The families of frances wilson osborne and g. W. Osborne, jr
Jesse Greer, Sr. Makes a Confession of Faith
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- Jesse Greer, Jr.
- A Smawl travil of Jesse Grear
- A Lineage of the Stansbery Family through the Life of Charles S. Stansbery (1893 – 1957) and his Immediate Descendants
Jesse Greer, Sr. Makes a Confession of Faith Jesse, my generation's 4th great grandfather, did not write a book such as St. Augustine's Confessions, but Jesse in a long and laborious paragraph, described his own faith experience. Sometime in the 19th Century in a school notebook, Jesse Greer, Jr. copied from notes his father had written, Jesse Sr.'s anguished confession of sin and contrition. What 'sins' this father of 17 children by one wife had to confess, we know little other than his cursing and drinking. He mentions in passing 'all kinds of sin' which we leave to imagination but suspect they were relatively minor - no murder or horse thieving! Below copied, with Jesse's imaginative spelling and capitalization intact, is that confession as transcribed by Mary Floy Katzman, and on the web site, A Gathering of Greers. The original is held by Annie Greer Heaton of Heaton, North Carolina, but I have a copy (see July 16, 2011 post) and a much better one is available at the Center for Appalachian Studies in Boone, North Carolina. Note that Jesse begins by referring to himself in the 3rd person. Although only one paragraph, to ease our reading, I have broken this into many paragraphs. He was born the son of Benjamine and Nacy Greer in Wilkes County, North Carolina on the 14th November 1778. then traveled on to the year of maturity under a tender father and mother and at 16 years old I left my Parents much Against their will. then serving the Devil was all my delight. till the year 1800, then married Polly Morris which was born a daughter of Henry and Franky Morris on the 17th september 1787. then went on in the Gall of Bitteness as tho there was no soul to save or to be lost, til the year 1810, at the Baptism of Brother Bejamin, I Began to think that my soul must dwell with the richman. then I betook my self to trying to pray for about ten months. But the Devil pursuaded me it was so hard that I could pray no longer. But betook myself to cursing and swearing and drinking and all kinds of sin til the year 1814. Very Gardless we went to meeting at the Oldfeel (Old Field) meeting house but there was no ministry Came to preach, but as they thought proper that they should sing and pray one of them began and as I set I saw a small child about twelve or thirteen years old crying as if He would Break her heart. and it seamed to strike me like a Clap of thunder, to think that God was at work with such small Children and I still in the gall of bitterness then I went hence trying to pray. but it oppressed (?) to me that God would not hear my weak pertishion. I soon began to think that I had passed the day of grace and soon betook my self to my friends and to the people of god to see if they could give an Conslation. but I had to go moving through the wilderness until 1815. I had been from home and on my return home some hour in the night I thought if I was lost I would die a praying. and as I was trying to pray I thought that my Blessed Jesus meet with me and Bid me not fear. Then I went home Rejoycing and praising God and I had Been lost But now was found. and in the time to follow his Companion Got a hope that she had made peace with god and we was Received in to the Baptist Church and was Baptized on the 4th Sunday in June 1815. 
Above Geraldine Stansbery Holliman Feick in 2009 stands in front of the latest version of the Sutherland Methodist Church in Ashe County, North Carolina. Her great grandparents, Isaac and Caroline Greer Wilson, became Methodists during a revival in the 1850s at this church, a few mountain valleys west and in the same county where Geraldine's 3rd grandfather, Jesse Greer, Sr. 'got religion' in 1815. Historians report that the Baptist and Methodist Churches grew rapidly during this period, especially in the Southwest (Tennessee, Kentucky and western Virginia). In this time period, these churches were considered radical, too emotional, too democratic to more established denominations - the Episcopal and Congregational denominations for example. Yet within a generation, Baptists and Methodists (although both split into numerous factions, especially the Baptists) were main stream, middle America and have remained so to this day. Many Scotch-Irish remained Presbyterian, and this denomination also grew dynamically during the Second Great Awakening. Before we go to Jesse Greer, Jr., we will detour back to Scotland and look at some home sites of our Grierson ancestors. I pause here for two reasons: one I made a recent trip to Scotland and want to record my research while still fresh, and two, the Jesse Greer, Jr. story rolls right into the Civil War and more recent times. His story and that of his wife, Frankie Brown Greer, and of course, their daughter, Caroline Greer Wilson, is fascinating, suspenseful and courageous in turbulent times. Their stories are well recorded and worthy of a closer look. In the first articles on this blog, I devoted several stories to Isaac and Caroline Greer Wilson, my generation's 2nd great grandparents.
The Charles S. Stansbery Family
Recently, my Mother, Geraldine Stansbery Holliman Feick, and I took a sentimental journey back to East Tennessee to visit new and old relatives. One of the many delights of the trip occurred when we stopped to share lunch with her half sister, Nancy Stansbery Higginbotham, in Greenville, Tennessee. Joining us for the repast were Charlie and Theresa Higginbotham and Ron and Sharon Potter and their two daughters, Danielle and Katie. Both Charlie and Sharon, as do I, share Charles Stansbery, Sr. as our grandfather. 
Left to right are Katie, Ron and Sharon Potter, Geraldine Stansbery Holliman Feick, Nancy Stansbery Higginbotham, Charlie and Theresa Higginbotham and Danielle Potter in Greenville, Tennessee, September 2011. As if visiting with Nancy and her family were not exciting enough, one of the associates at the restaurant, Laura Elizabeth Davenport, recognized Nancy and was introduced to us as a great grand daughter of Fred and Flora Stansbery, brother and sister-in-law of Charles Stansbery! The next day, Laura kindly loaned yours truly old family photos that I shall be using in future articles. I promised Laura a copy of the Stansbery family tree, so below it begins, drawn from multiple sources. We are a well documented family. The family name Stansbery is spelled many different ways. Most common are Stansbery, Stansbery, Stanbourough and Stansbury. The word means stone or tin fort. Many genealogists place the origin of the family in Cornwall and Devonshire, England, an area of numerous tin mines from Roman times. In 1994, during a trip to England, my wife and I stayed at a B & B run by, yes, Charles Stansbury! This document begins in 1628 and carries through to 2009. The numbers is front of many of the names indicate the number of generations in the New World. B and D (b and d) mean birth and death, of course. W (w) and H (h) mean wife and husband. M (m) means married. Errors are mine alone; additions and corrections welcome. All Stansberys out there, please let me hear from you. Directory: files files -> Answer True False 2 points Question 2 files -> Integer programming and game theory files -> 4 Integer Programming files -> Bpa vehicle Window Repair Scenario #1 task: Procure vehicle window relacement. Objective files -> Pop Warner History files -> North Carolina Inclusion Initiative Mapping Where Children with ieps are Being Served Purpose files -> Fall 2013 Spring 2014 Program Data: Standard 1 Exhibit 4d files -> Hanban – asia society confucius classrooms network 2010 request for proposal files -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations Download 4.59 Mb. Share with your friends:
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